Daniel Thomas testifies about father Judge Charles Thomas's death

We now have Daniel Thomas.

Good morning.

Good morning.

You can proceed.

Go ahead.

Yes, thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

And I appreciate both Speaker Madden and Councilman Shulman's comments.

They're reassuring to hear.

My father was Honorable Judge Charles Thomas.

He was born in the Bronx, raised a family in Rockaway Beach, Queens.

And he retired to Manhattan.

Sorry.

Sure, that's fine.

Am I still on?

Yes, you are.

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I don't know if I'm still on or not.

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We're having a technical issue we're trying to resolve.

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I'm still on?

Okay.

I can't hear myself, but I'll continue.

Daniel, you can proceed.

Thank you.

To the extent that my father was a lifelong New Yorker, and he retired in 2010 from the Queens County Supreme Court bench, and he resided in Manhattan on the Upper East Side until the time he passed.

My father was actually a very, very pragmatic person.

He understood that not everything can be fixed, not everything can be resolved.

But when he received the notice that he had Legionella, July 2nd, I took him to the hospital, and he fought valiantly.

To the surprise of many of the doctors.

He survived six weeks fighting this disease.

He encountered numerous complications.

He had two life-saving procedures to fix arterial bleeds that developed in the stress ulcers.

His body filled up with fluid.

He looked like the Pillsbury Doughboy, based on the amount of

fluid his body was holding because it was fighting this Legionella that is so toxic, it completely alters and creates a cascade effect to any existing problems that you may have.

But he was independent.

He walked the neighborhood on the Upper East Side.

He went to the bank, went shopping, went to the park.

He was a

A member of society that was still contributing, still working, still helping young lawyers, counseling them, guiding them, giving advices to other judges.

And the amount of pain that he went through enduring this disease.

He knew.

He was compos mentis the whole time.

He never lost any of his faculties.

He was aware.

He made goodbye videos to his grandkids and his children.

When they approached him, said, you may need this procedure that is not going to, you're not going to survive this procedure that you need.

But he did, and he was strong.

But he wasn't strong enough.

And the thing that the public needs to know and this committee needs to know, the reason Legionella is so deadly to the elderly is because it creates a cascade effect.

And you don't have the strength to weather the storm.

There's not enough runway of health.

That can make you last.

The doctor said normal ammonia, you can get over in a matter of weeks.

Legionella is going to be months, and the body weakens on a daily basis.

And it was very, very difficult for myself and my family.

Watch my father deteriorate to the point where

He knew.

And what he said to me was, this was a completely preventable random act of violence that occurred to me.

And my whole life I've been about justice, doling it out, making sure it was done properly.

And this was unjust.

So enforcement absolutely has to be stepped up.

And I appreciate that the city is making changes, but they're not enough.

They're not enough because they were not effective enough to prevent this outbreak.

The 2025 outbreak in Harlem should have been a wake-up call to the entire city, every building owner, everyone who's doing enforcement.

We cannot scrimp.

We cannot cut corners on safety when it's completely preventable, completely avoidable.

And my father in the hospital said to me, what kind of judge, what kind of jurist would I be if I didn't stand up for myself and my own rights?

And he researched a very, very fine attorney, Ron Catter, and said, I want Ron Catter to represent me.

I will not live to see the end of this matter, but I do want to see change.

I want my grandkids to know that my death was not in vain.

And to the extent that enforcement is also part of what the penalty is, I don't know that the penalties are strong enough.

I would ask this committee to consider what penalties there are.

We have tremendous means and technology today.

Whether it's shutting down a

electrical systems for these air cooling, for these cooling towers, or the buildings themselves, to force compliance if necessary.

It's great that there's all these, you know, millions of dollars that are in arrears from buildings that haven't complied, but that does no good for the New Yorkers walking the streets.

So there's much more I could say.

I'm happy to do it.

At a later date.

But for right now, I want to share with you that the enforcement is key.

I'm delighted to hear that no death is acceptable from Legionella in this city at this time that we live.

No death is acceptable.

And to put it in context, I read an article about a fighter jet that the U.S.

Military has that cost $150 million.

And there's an ejection seat in that fighter jet.

That tells you how precious life is.

So the fact that my father was 92 doesn't change the fact that he had still life ahead of him, and he was robbed, and his life was taken away.

Daniel, I just want to thank you.

I know it's obviously very painful to have to come and to talk about the loss of your father.

We very much appreciate you doing that.

And I want to extend condolences to you, to your family, and condolences to Ida, who spoke earlier.

Ida and I had a conversation right after her husband died.

She told me,

with much love about her 50-year marriage to her husband, and I know it's very painful, Ida, for you to have to talk about this, but we appreciate you doing so as well, and our deepest condolences.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr.

Thomas.

We really appreciate it.

Condolences as well.

And we appreciate you testifying because it makes a difference for us.

So thank you.